


3-6-9 spare

by honeyboyyoongi



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: 97 Line Group Chat Ensemble, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, M/M, POV Outsider, Secret Relationship, i guess, seokmin's canon crush on jaehyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:34:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28825305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyboyyoongi/pseuds/honeyboyyoongi
Summary: It shouldn't be odd, Jungkook and Mingyu sitting next to each other like this.It shouldn't be odd but it is.
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 7
Kudos: 104
Collections: Seventeen Rare Pair Fest: 2 Rare 2 Pair





	3-6-9 spare

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SVTRarePairFest2](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SVTRarePairFest2) collection. 



> thank you very much to the prompter for sparking this fic and a huge thank you to the mods for running the fest!
> 
> this is set vaguely in 2018, I tried to figure out a time when this could have conceivably happened and my brain started to hurt so. use your imagination. also it's tagged canon compliant to mean that they are all idols like in the real world, not because i think they are actually dating (im only saying that so bighit doesn't sue me, gyukook are legally married. I Want To Believe)
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> \- gyukook being in a long-term, established relationship  
> \- somewhere where they have to keep their idolsonas on (e.g. music show waiting room, end of year award shows, off-schedule but in public & noticing that people have recognized them, etc.)  
> \- the intimacy (e.g. emotional intimacy, non-sexual physical intimacy, just them being at ease with each other) that comes with being in a long-term relationship & an outsider noticing
> 
> (also secret relationship as in keeping in a secret from the fans / public / etc. could also be a secret from the member(s)? but up to you! the "outsider" in the outside pov could be anyone, stylists, company staff, other idols, members, etc.)

They’ve rented out the entire bowling alley, because of course they have. Seokmin doesn’t know whose company it was, and for a moment he wonders at the logistics of it all, the planning needed just for them to hang out as a group of friends. But then he shakes the thought away. It’s best not to dwell on that for his own peace of mind.

“I’m here,” he sings as he walks toward where the group is gathered. He’s late, held behind by a solo schedule while Mingyu got to leave right after they finished shooting. 

He’s greeted with a chorus of cheers and hugs, lots of back slapping and arms around his shoulders. Mingyu just gives him a wave, which makes sense considering he’d seen him a few hours ago. 

He’s handed a glass of beer and he takes a long drink, the stress of the day falling from his shoulders as his friends chatter around him.

“You’re on our team.” Dongmin declares. “Jungkook has been destroying us.”

“Hey, we’re on the team too,” Jaehyun says, gesturing to himself and Mingyu.

Dongmin rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but you haven’t gotten three strikes in a row.”

“I don’t know, I want to be on the winning team,” Seokmin teases. “Maybe I should join my fellow Seventeen member.”

“Guess I don’t count then,” Minghao pouts.

After much discussion it's decided that Seokmin is joining Mingyu's team, and he's given a pair of shoes as Jaehyun explains their strategy. 

"We're cheating," he says, leaning in close. Seokmin tries not to let himself get distracted by the way Jaehyun's hair falls into his eyes. "We've been distracting the other team and letting Jungkook go more often."

Seokmin stifles a laugh. "Sneaky."

"Last time we did karaoke Dongmin bragged for weeks about scoring higher than me, this is payback."

"Jaehyun-ah," Jungkook calls, waving him over. "Hurry up, it's your turn."

Seokmin watches as he makes his way to the lane, him and Jungkook trying out a few bowling balls before settling on a bright green one. 

He lines up for his shot, arms flexing as he brings the bowling ball up and Seokmin averts his eyes, his mouth suddenly dry. Instead, he focuses on Jungkook, sitting back down beside Mingyu. 

Jungkook looks good, his dark hair tucked under a bucket hat. As he sits down, Mingyu's arm comes up to settle on the back of his seat. 

It should be normal. They're all close, free with skinship, comfortable with each other. There's something about all of them being idols that's comforting. They don't need to worry about how things come off, don't need to explain the careful dance they do to satisfy the fans and the company. Seokmin still loves the friends he has from before he became and idol, but there's a certain freedom that comes from hanging out with other idols. 

Mingyu is a touchy person, always throwing an arm around a waist or hooking his chin on a shoulder. The members joke that they need to draw up a schedule to make sure Mingyu gets his designated cuddles.

Jungkook is just as touchy, though he's more careful about it. Not with his members, he's always hanging off them, but with others it's only behind closed doors that he lets himself be less tightly wound. 

So it shouldn't be odd, Jungkook and Mingyu sitting next to each other like this. 

It shouldn't be odd but it is. 

It's the way Jungkook leans back until he's resting against Mingyu's chest. It's the way Mingyu's arm comes down around Jungkook's shoulders. It's the quirk of Mingyu's lips, a smile tucked in the corner of his mouth, the unconscious one that means he's really, truly happy. It's the blink and you miss it kiss Mingyu presses to Jungkook's hair.

Jaehyun curses as he throws a gutter ball, pulling Seokmin's attention. 

When he turns back to Mingyu and Jungkook, he almost expects them to have moved, like a mirage that's disappeared once you've seen it. But they're still sitting like that, Jungkook's head tilted up as Mingyu says something, face creasing in a smile. He turns so he can look at Mingyu properly, eyes sparkling. 

Seokmin knows Mingyu, knows what it means that he looks at Jungkook like he hung the moon and stars. 

He knows what it means for their groups, knows what could happen if this ever comes out. 

He knows it's something he doesn't want to deal with right now.

"Jeong Jaehyun," he says, getting up to join him by the lane. "Have you never bowled before? Let me show you how it's done."

Jaehyun laughs and whispers suggestions on how to distract the other team. Seokmin decides that right now, he will focus on winning this game and getting bragging rights for the next few months. He can figure out Jungkook and Mingyu after that.

They end up winning the game, and even though they cheated, victory is sweet. They all pile into waiting vans and get dinner afterwards, one of their companies very graciously reserving a private room at a barbecue restaurant in Hongdae. 

Dinner is loud and chaotic, even more so when they start of the soju and beer. Seokmin is sitting at the end of table beside Minghao and Yugyeom. 

His eye can't help but be drawn to Jungkook and Mingyu at the other end of the table. He watches as Mingyu makes a ssaem, carefully layering the samgyeopsal and garlic and kimchi and pajeori, wrapping it all up in lettuce. Jungkook is talking to Dongmin and he doesn't even pause when Mingyu brings the ssaem to his mouth, eating it in one bite. Mingyu gives him a pleased little smile, full of warmth and affection, and Seokmin needs to look away. 

They continue on in that vein for the rest of dinner, and Seokmin can't believe that he's only noticing it now. To be fair, they don't all get a chance to hang out like this too often. Just managing one group's hectic schedule is difficult enough, trying to find a time that works for five groups is near impossible. 

By the time dinner is done, Seokmin is vibrating with energy, Minghao shooting him odd looks. He almost wants to ask him if he knew, if he noticed. 

It's late by the time they leave the restaurant, after protracted goodbyes and promises to do this again as soon as they can. With comebacks and promotions and tours and solo schedules, it will be months before they can do this again, and part of Seokmin is sad, almost wishing that they were a normal group of friends that did this every weekend, not needing half a dozen handlers just to go bowling and have dinner with his friends. 

Their manager is waiting for them with the car, and with a final wave they get in. Minghao claims the front seat so he and Mingyu take the back. 

He fully plans to doze off for the drive back to their dorm, but for some reason his mouth opens and he says, "Jeon Jungkook."

He glances to the front but their manager and Minghao are deep in discussion, the music masking the details of their conversation.

Mingyu gives him an odd look. "Yes? We saw him today."

"How long have you two been...you know."

He doesn't want to say it. Saying it will make it real. There's still a part of him that thinks he's reading too much into this, that of course Mingyu isn't dating BTS Jungkook. 

That small hope is snuffed out at the way Mingyu freezes, his face going blank as he tries to think of a lie.

After a long moment, Mingyu's shoulders slump. "Almost a year."

"Well at least you didn't deny it," Seokmin jokes.

"You can say it," Mingyu says.

"Say what?"

Mingyu rubs a hand over his face. He looks tired. Yes he just spent an evening drinking and bowling with friends after a full day of schedules, but it's deeper than that. 

"It's dumb. We're both idols. BTS is starting to blow up and they're just getting more and more famous. Seventeen is getting more popular and it's the result of years of hard work. It's stupid to risk the careers of so many people. We're being selfish."

Seokmin feels guilty because he was thinking all that. Or he was trying very hard not to think it. Mingyu just looks so sad, especially compared the the quiet contentment he had been wearing all night with Jungkook at his side.

"Actually, I was going to say good job. Jungkook is hot."

It takes a moment for the words to sink in, Mingyu going from downtrodden to giggling. He shoves Seokmin's, laughing. "Stop."

"No, I'm serious. We all saw those abs when he performed fake love." Seokmin fans himself. 

"You're the worst," Mingyu says, but that bitter sadness is almost completely gone, and the tightness in Seokmin's chest loosens.

He pretends to hold a microphone, as if he's doing an interview. "Kim Mingyu, you are the envy of millions of young women. How do you feel to be the one to have snagged Jeon Jungkook?"

"Hey, what about me? He snagged me too," Mingyu says, playfully indignant.

"Let's just say you snagged each other," Seokmin allows. "How did that happen anyway? You said a year, right?"

Mingyu shrugs, but he's smiling. "We've always been close. Then last year we started talking more when we were on tour, and it kind of grew from there. We got back and then he got back and we met up and it just hit me, you know? Seeing him again after all those months, I just blurted out that I liked him right when I realized myself."

"Does anyone else know?" Seokmin asks gently.

Some of that awed happiness dims from Mingyu's face, and Seokmin wants to snatch the question back, but it's too late.

"His hyungs. Apparently he's not subtle," Mingyu says with a fond laugh. "No one from management, Bighit or Pledis. We know how that'll end."

"Have you told anyone, Mingyu-yah?"

Mingyu rubs the back of his neck. "Well, I told you."

Something in Seokmin's heart breaks just a little. He thinks of Mingyu's little smiles, the joy that radiates from him when he's talking about Jungkook, the easy way they exist in the same space and he wishes he could make a space for them in the world through sheer force of will. 

"Well, I actually figured it out myself using my superior intellect. So really you haven't told anyone yet."

Mingyu snorts. "Superior intellect. I've seen you brush your teeth with shaving cream."

"It was one time!" 

"Four! It was four times and you didn't stop until Jeonghan hyung moved the shaving cream tube into the cabinet."

"Can we do a boyfriend swap? I want Jungkook in the group instead of you! He would never make fun of me."

Mingyu just looks at him, his eyebrows raised.

"Okay, " Seokmin concedes. "Even I know that's not true. But still, here I am being all supportive of your secret relationship and all you do is mock me." He wipes away a fake tear.

"Thank you," Mingyu says, suddenly serious. "I know-. It affects you too, I know that. It affects everyone and I shouldn't have kept it a secret so long but I didn't know how to tell you guys. I was scared you'd be mad. I don't want to have to choose."

"Of course I support you, dummy. I love you and I want you to be happy. You don't need to tell anyone until you're ready. And when you do, I know they'll be happy for you too."

"Gross," Mingyu says, wrinkling his nose, but he's smiling, lit up with happiness. 

"And this also means I can rub it in everyone's faces that I knew first and figured it out on my own, which means that I am officially the smartest in the group."

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed please leave a comment!! and if you like try and guess who I am :))


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